18 Comments

Thanks so much for the lovely and thoughtful shoutout, Alex!

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It is my pleasure. I have a bad habit of not commenting or even clicking the little like button, even when I really enjoy something, so I am hoping this goes some way to make amends. Thank you, for sharing so much of interest and joy.

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It’s friendship over time that really counts!

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Thank you! I agree wholeheartedly.

I have only relatively recently begun to unravel some of the deeper mysteries of why my brain works in the way it does, and my relationship with the concept of friendship is one thing not everyone gets—to me, you really are a friend, despite our not having met in person. Your words, thoughts and images have led me to that conclusion, and that is a wonderful thing.

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That’s wonderful to hear! I feel the same.

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Wow! What an adventure. Do you find writing about your time in nature adds to your appreciation? Or is it a distraction? How do you feel about bothies?

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Many thanks. I do feel writing about this time adds to the appreciation, and also to a greater level of understanding. Even now, years later, I get a lot out of this, especially when coupled with rereading my journals from that time.

I think bothies are a great idea, and there should be more of them, especially the most basic, simply four walls and a roof. I personally enjoy being out in the woods without walls, but I know bothies are a great way for others to appreciate the nature, especially in mountain areas.

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Time ticks. In the state of Maine a humble farmer quote us: “If it’s less than a six tick day, I must be slacking off.” The length of any outdoor project can be measured by the number of parasites that can attach themselves to your body while you are executing it.

Weeding a grass lawn on my hands a knees a microscopic tick crawls up my pants. Nestled around my belly button. I returned inside to feel this itch. Could not see the tiny beast until I got out a magnifying glass and tweezers.

There are more to replace this one. Sand ticks on my dog, red black, orange a rainbow color of tucks. There is a Global Lyme Alliance site that reports the virus spreading Lyme disease. A friend got Lyme disease on Long Island from bite of lone star tick. She became allergic to meat. I hope you carry a magnifying glass. Useful ti see and even light a fire if matches run out.

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(I clicked the ‘like’ button, but I don’t actually like ticks!!!)

It is a bit frightening, how quickly they seem to be spreading, and in so many different places, too. Those tiny ones are a nightmare in Scotland in spring, but at least they can’t spread Lyme, as far as I’m aware, being at too young a stage to have become infected. Sometimes, if you place your hand on the ground for just a second, it comes back with dozens of them crawling over it. Not very pleasant!

I have a 25x folding loupe/naturalist’s magnifying glass, which sits in my pocket (in a small leather coin pouch, which also contains glasses cleaning cloths) every day. In my phone case is another Fresnel lens too and, when I’m out in the woods, I have a much larger and heavier ring magnifier. Making fire with these is so quick on a sunny day, and much less effort than a bow or hand drill!

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You magnify the subject matter very well. Never know when you need to read fine print or see something on a map. Very together on your part. I don’t know anyone who likes ticks. They would make a horrible pet.

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Ha! Now I am actually wondering if there are people who keep ticks as pets, and how they feed them?! I used to keep beetles as a child, but at least they only ate other beetles and insects…

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Had a pet tarantula , Dr. Tran. Ate a lot of crickets. Only tick researchers would have ticks, but not as pets. Little vampires.

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Perhaps, in this world of ours, there’s a gap in the market for selling ticks as pets… (Not really! Eugh.)

My old housemate had a bearded dragon, and I remember the time his cricket storage failed… we found them for days and days after, in all manner of places.

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I had cut tabs once. Not the kind in the groin but three ocean small rock crabs. They climbed out of my aquarium at night found two, one at top of a window curtain and another under a chair. Never found the third one. Maybe it hitchhiked back to the ocean where I returned the other two. Crabs are like giant ticks. Maybe sell ticks to Tick Tock and have A I enlarge them as a nightmare that attacks you like crabs in the groin. A new horror story in the making. Happy Halloween.

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I fallen into another reverie of wild living reading this Alex, as always it was a delight.

I have owned several pocket type knives in my life, I still have each of them but my favourite, which I carry everywhere, is one I found in a derelict house behind what was left of the chimney, I brought it home, cleaned and sharpened it and have used it most days since, for everything and anything!

As for ticks... I only have to set foot in woodland or long grass and I return home with three or four. The first time this happened I was horrified. Now, its just part of my daily routine; remove ticks, brush teeth...

Have a great weekend, I hope your finding time for you - we have blue sky again here.

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I would be very interested in the tick data on a map, to see what happens to tick numbers when there are wolves in an area. There are certainly a lot of ticks here, and apparently they are also increasing, but I suspect the rate might not be as high as other, wolf-free areas.

I absolutely love this, about your knife. That is a wonderful thing! I have found some blades up at the mountain house that I will one day remake or renovate, but they are not pocket-sized. I also have my Mum’s old scout knife, which I use still, but it is a little too big for my pocket—as well as the sheepsfoot blade, it also has a fid/marlin spike for ropework. The one knife I really miss is a tiny double-bladed Sheffield steel pocket knife, dating well back into the Victorian era, which I once picked up in a charity shop. I miss that one and hope it is somewhere safe in my stored belongings.

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Particularly evocative work from an always impressive writer - and some glorious photos, too!

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Thank you so much for this! I greatly appreciate these words and your sharing.

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